Bowen LIFT : Linking Islanders through Friendly Transportation

On a sunny warm day it is easy to offer someone a lift.

There is the pedestrian walking down the road going the same way as you. So you roll down the window and ask, “Would you like a LIFT?”

At this time of the year it is often different.

The rain is pelting down, and in front of you your windshield wipers are waving back and forth.

There is the pedestrian — under a big dripping umbrella, or just with her/his collar turned up and shoulders hunched to keep in the warmth and keep out some of the wet.

If you roll down your window the wind will blow a few drops into your comfy car. You might have to call out to be heard above the fury of the weather. And if you invite that pedestrian in, you will have a damp seat. Yes, the invitation will be more awkward.

But it will also be sincerely appreciated.

Concept design for a Bowen Island LIFT Stop

BowenLIFT is proposing to facilitate hitchhiking by having pull-outs with visible signs around Bowen Island.

The concept is described in this new page at BowenLIFT.com. <<click this link.

If you have any thoughts about the LIFT STOP program, you are welcome to post a comment to this blog note. [Blog entry by R. Ballantyne.]

For some cars, the sign on the visor or the dashboard worked well. But for cars with tinted windows, it was almost invisible. Laying the sign on top of the dashboard was okay, but it was often hard to see, could easily blow away, and could reflect light onto the windshield in a manner that could distract the driver.

Will Husby created a mirror hanger, and our group loved it. So, we are moving to using mirror hangers.

It will be a day or so before the new mirror hanger PDFs are posted at this site and will be available for download… but the artwork has been done.

The dog-cartoon is by renown Bowen Island artist and humorist, Ron Woodall.

Some of us want to see these same neighbourhood symbols used in cards that could fit into conference ID badges — the kind with a lanyard — so that people who’d like to be offered a lift could wear them visibly on their back as they are walking. For now, we’d be curious about some feedback from you about this. (This is a blog, and you are welcome to comment here.) [Blog article by R. Ballantyne.]

The article is called:

Come on Gabriola, take a leaf from Bowen’s book

And appeared in island blog on Sep 21. Click the title (above) to read it.

Will H. sent me a JPG of a Bouquet of the mirror-hanger / dashboard tags that he’s been designing. I’ve popped them up as the main picture on the home page of the site.

The Bouquet image is a link to the gateway page for the downloads for all of the dashboard signs. At the moment  those signs are PDF images of the old Visor-dashboard signs. Our plan is to replace them with the new mirror-hanger variety. So, if you’d prefer the visor-style, now is the time to download it!

We also have a plan for similar, but smaller, signs that would go in the plastic-sleeve-with-lanyard that is used for an ID at a conference. The concept is that if someone wanted a lift, s/he’d wear the tag on the back while walking. A driver would then know where she or he was going and could offer a lift.

Islanders and others: feel free to comment on what we are doing and what you think would work best. Thanks… Robert B.

News about The Friday Project coming soon!